Transforming Retail using KPIs to connect strategy to business and technical requirements.
Key Performance Indicators (KPI) are a way to provide real-time measurement of performance in fulling strategic goals and objectives. They are a perfect starting point for any discussion about digital transformation because they cut to the heart of the strategic initiative and they provide a way to dynamically monitor the effectiveness of the strategy.
We like to focus on leading indicators where we are able to measure an activity that leads to a desired outcome; for example: “If I do activity A well, then I will get result B”. The activity directly produces the KPI. The indicator must be demonstrable, relevant and easy to measure; the simpler, the better to measure performance and ensure success.
We use classic Business Architecture to connect existing strategic objectives to initiatives, and then assess the initiative for its ability to deliver the objective required for the transformation. We are also able to pinpoint what capabilities are missing, where to add them and what we’d like the outcome to be.
For example, we want to enable “buy online, return to store” as a strategic course of action to produce the objective of increasing appeal among a new consumer segment. The strategy requires that we connect online ecommerce systems to the in-store transactional systems. What capabilities currently exist, and how might an initiative augmented or add to them in order to fulfill the objective? The KPI will measure the appeal among the new consumer segment.
Our Business models and standards library contains over 150 KPIs covering a broad range of topics. These help to expedite development and serve to ensure we don’t miss the obvious.
Further, by breaking down a complex problem into smaller, well documented and measured tasks we can see performance issues and understand whether we are on track toward our strategic objective well in advance of serious failure.
Well-designed KPIs serve as vital navigational instruments, giving a clear picture of current levels of performance and whether the business is where it needs to be before making huge commitments on a finished system.
The KPIs fit into every stage of our practice in aid of your digital transformation objectives.
Continue the conversation with me. Let’s go do it.
Larry W. Smith
